


Old Friend, New Enemy

by LuciferStone15



Category: Ratchet & Clank
Genre: Deadlocked ratchet and clank, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27974291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciferStone15/pseuds/LuciferStone15
Summary: Ratchet has a bit of trauma and nightmares about fighting in the gladiator games while held prisoner, he hoped that Gleeman Vox was forever dead in that explosion. Meanwhile, him and the other rangers are searching for their long lost friend, Jane, until they find out that vox is still alive and has changed their friend into one of his new monstrous toys.
Kudos: 1





	1. Lost And Found

I still remember hearing the crowds roar in excitement, they would yell or scream my name every time I defeated another gladiator in the ring and it was all thanks to Gleamin Vox for trapping me in that death hole. Just remembering that kidnapping and fighting gave me headaches, sure it was fun but, having to kill them so I wouldn't get killed myself was almost traumatic.

"Ratchet? RATCHET!"

"Huh!?!"

Ratchet woke to see clank by the side of his bed, "You were having another nightmare again, is everything alright?" Clank asked. "Y-Yeah, just a few bad memories..." I said trying not to cause him to worry. "Well, we need to get going, Talwyn says she has something to tell us." Ratchet nodded and got up to put on his protosuit. While in the ship flying to Talwyn's base ratchet noticed a few other ships at her place, there was Alastor's, Angela's, Sasha's and Quark's. 'What were they doing here?' Ratchet thought, especially the president's daughter Sasha, if her and Quark were here then whatever's going on is serious.

Landing his ship next to Alastor's, Ratchet saw Angela waiting for him outside the base. "I'm glad you're here, Ratchet" Angela said in a nervous and worried tone, she usually never sound like that, something was up. "What's going on here?" Ratchet questioned, Angela said nothing but grabbed his hand and they walked inside. Walking inside, ratchet noticed it was a little too quiet, usually it's busy here, especially when looking for Nefarious. While walking into the room, everyone was around the holograph table with Talwyn in front. "RATCHET!" Talwyn exclaimed before running over and hugging ratchet, "Heh, uh, I missed you guys too?" He said confused "What's going on here? Is there something wrong?" Before anyone answered his questions, Sasha turned on the holograph table and opened a profile of Gleamin Vox. "You remember him?" Sasha said "Yeah, that's the psycho who held me hostage and almost had me killed in his little gladiator games." Ratchet said angrily getting those memories in his head again. Talwyn walked towards the board and opened the file, "Apparently he survived that explosion at the gladiator tournament, and it says here in his agenda that he has a new gladiator stadium near where you and Azimuth had met."

"What? There? Why would he build his stadium there?" Ratchet was confused, there's barely anyone in that area, but now that he's made himself another toybox more people are crowding the place. "Is this some advertisement he's just trying to make popular or is it another puppet show?"

"Worse" Alastor sighed.

'Worse?' Ratchet thought, 'how could it be worse? Was Dr. Nefarious in on this?'

Azimuth went to the board and played a video, "Apparently in his agenda he has a new champion that's practically a watchdog and guard than the other one..." The video played, at first it was his usual cocky attitude to get people excited and riled up for what he had planned, but then it showed the gladiator champions.

"Here we have the most strongest and powerful gladiators that ever lived! Astronautica, the flying bomber herself!" She looked seductive and looked like a clown at a circus, she had a purple helmet with lenses on them and her suit was black with orange and blue polka dot patterns on it along with her clown-like skirt, she looked more child like with those giant pigtails. "She's a real bomb ain't she?" The announcer joked "And then we have The Ferocious Five! They'll eat your guts and dreams from the inside out!" Were they vox's new champions that Alastor said? I mean, they looked horrifying, they were big and their mouths were filled with nothing but giant sharp spikes, their hands were disfigured and deformed with claws not to mention that they were almost like frankenstein's monsters from a horror movie, but they weren't what caught and frightened the rangers' attention. "And here we have the queen of all monsters, the devil's child, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, We Give You... DEMON X!!!" And coming out of the closed gates was a female figure, she looked a bit more normal than the other gladiators but when she stepped into the light, the world stopped spinning, all of time have stopped and the universe went silent.

No.... it can't be, it couldn't be....

One good look at her face and everyone knew, it was their old galactic ranger friend Jane. Though she looked older and more murderous they couldn't help but see images of what and who she used to be. Back then, when ratchet was doing missions with Talwyn ((this was during ratchet and clank future quest for booty)) that Jane was just a naive, 17-year-old deaf girl with a very kind heart, she was smart too and whenever there were serious issues she would joke around to shed some light on the drama. She talked a lot too with new translation collar that ratchet made for her *which he still has locked in his drawer* usually she would talk about animals she liked or what missions she wished to have, Jane hanged out with Talwyn, Angela and Sasha most times too, they were more like sisters than best friends. Ratchet still remembers those conversations he had with her, most of them were about his parents and how a little upset he was that he, Angela and Azimuth were probably the only lombaxes, Jane would always tell him that she's no different than him that she's on the same boat as ratchet, one conversation that stuck with ratchet was when she found him moping outside sitting on top of his crane, she talked about how she was the same as ratchet that she never knew what her race was or who her real mother and father were, it was just her and her older twin brother James. And twins they were, they both had short red hair, they both were cats, the only differences they had was that Jane was only chin height towards her 5 foot brother, Jane covered her right eye with her red hair while James covered his left, Jane wore her brothers old red jacket and wore a purple shirt with blue jeans while her brother wore a white shirt with black jeans, and Jane's eye color was a bright purple crystal amethyst color that if you were to see them in the daytime it would look as if they were glowing brighter, as for James his eye was cyan blue, shine a blue light on it and it would've been glowing in the dark.

But that's not what Jane looked like anymore, she looked menacing, her hair was long that it ended at the bottom of her back and its color was white that faded to what was left of Jane's redheaded color, she even had horns, ones at her forehead and ones at the side of her head, with her new horns blocking her hair both of her eyes were now revealed the only eye that her hair fell over was her third eye at the top. Her right eye that she used to cover was the same as ever, black sclera covering her entire eye, the iris still a bright red color, and her pupil still sharp eyed as ever, but for some reason her left eye was the same and her skin was, instead of red with white hands, she was all white, from head to toe white as winter snow. And her clothes, there nothing much but red shorts, red boots and a red bra with no laces but tied around her back covering her entire chest. She looked horrible, she had more fresh scars that are worse than the scars she already had before she met ratchet and the others, her arms were covered with bandages that seem like they didn't really help with her bleeding. And she even has a black scarf to hide her shock collar, which everyone knew she had very bad scars from trying to take it off, that vox gives to all of his puppets, she even had a mask on her mouth that looked like a muzzle and a gag at the same time.

'No, I refuse to believe this' Ratchet thought, with very painful memories of Jane with the him and the rangers spinning around in his head. "That's not Jane, that can't be Jane..." Ratchet said with his voice quivering, "We did a DNA scan and, that's Jane alright." Angela said her voice also quivering. "B-But how? WHY? Why is she with vox fighting in a death match!?" Ratchet's voice was starting began to sound scared, almost as if he was about to cry, "Is this where she's been after going missing 10 years ago?" Angela asked. "I gotta admit, the kid had a few growth spurts while growing up over the years, huh?" Quark said

"DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT QUARK!" Ratchet yelled

"Yeah, what's wrong with you!?" Angela yelled

"What? I'm just saying! She looks like a warrior goddess with those muscles!" Quark joked

"Guys! GUYS! Calm down! I know we're all shocked by Jane's new appearance, but we all need to calm down and think of a plan to rescue her from that murder house." Sasha was right, though Jane was now a killing machine she was still their friend. "First, we need to figure out how to get in without anyone noticing AND get that collar off Jane." Alastor said.

"But I still don't understand..." Ratchet said, "Why Would Jane Join Vox In Becoming A Gladiator?"

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As the crowd cheered, getting ready for the fight, Jane was approached by Gleeman Vox. "You hear that? They're all ready for you, ready for you to kill!" He said in a happy tone. Jane couldn't speak because of the muzzle vox had put on her (and because she doesn't have ratchet's translation collar he made), so instead, she uses sign language. "How am I supposed to kill five deadly monsters?" She signed "By going full demon-mode on them of course! That's what the crowd WANTS, That's what the crowd NEED, true instincts and messages that say 'don't mess with me!' Jane sighed and nodded her head then the horn blew and the gates began to open. Vox patted her back with a cocky, evil smile as she headed inside the battlefield. In front of her were the ferocious five, a few tall a few small, they had black leather coats on them like a motorcycle gang and half either had one eye or three eyes. The ring rung and the fight began, jane pulled out her crossblades, that looked like spiky, purple diamonds curved upwards, and began to run towards them, dodging and slashing every move she knew. She was able to cut off the tall one with the long spider legs head off while one of the short fat ones had their stomachs open.

There were three left, they were a bit tougher than the other two. They're skins were dark with blue stripes on them, two had one eye one had three eyes, they had a crooked smile with sharp teeth inside. There was two minutes left, jane had to hurry and finish them off, she dropped her crossblades and drew her claws that grew long like they were swords themselves and she took out her stinger that was connected to the end of her tail. She rushed towards the three figures, very fast this time, and began to cut them with her giant claws, she cut their arms, legs and head, she cut their entire body so bad they could barely stand.

This was it, with only one minute to spare, she quickly ran towards them and stung them with her tail. They began to twitch vigorously and black veins began to spread quickly over their bodies. They started bleeding out of their eyes, ears and mouth until they passed out from blood loss. The crowd cheered at Jane's horrific talent as the announcer also cheered "OOOH FATALITY FOR THE FEROCIOUS FIVE! DEMON X HAS WON ANOTHER BATTLE!" Everyone was cheering her name, those reactions made ratchet feel sick, he was shocked, dizzy and scared. Those cheers reminded him when he was fighting in the ring and had to kill all those gladiators, now it has passed on to jane, only worse. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, a teenage girl that's deaf and has a kind heart turned into a savage beast by a horrible man.

"What has he done to jane?" Sasha said in woe

"We need to get her out of there!" Angela yelled

"We need a plan first! We can't just barge in there, we'll be spotted! Or possibly worse, thrown into the ring ourselves!" Alister said

Everyone looked at ratchet who was frozen in fear with the sight of his best friend now a monster.

"Uhh Ratchet? You ok there pal?" Qwark said

"H-Huh?! O-Oh yeah, I'm uh, fine...give me sec" ratchet said as he headed towards his work area. 

"He's worse than how we're feeling..." Qwark said

"How could he NOT be?" Talwyn said, "Jane and him were very close...like, brother and sister kind of close." She added. "Well, how are we gonna save Jane?" Angela questioned, "We could wait for vox to be outside his toy box, I've noticed that once in a while he would use one his ships and come into the city for more 'supplies' or food." Sasha said "Once he's out of the ship, we can head over to him and force him to give up Jane." Everyone nodded in agreement, "Talwyn, you have the better eyesight, go outside around the base and keep lookout. Angela can come with you just in case." Sasha ordered. They both go outside with binoculars and searched, "Azimuth and I will remain here when Talwyn and Angela have a clear sighting of vox so we can get some information on his ship and put a tracker on it." Sasha said.

"But what about ratchet?" Clank said "He seems a bit....shattered about Jane..." 

Sasha sighed. "Just let him get some time alone, he needs to...process all of this..." She said, looking upstairs worried about ratchet.


	2. A Puppet In A Stageplay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane is having a hard time with all of these fights and being treated like an actual demon.

"Yes Sir, this devilish angel is a monster of beautiful slaughter!" The announcer commented. "Hahaha! Just look at these ratings! They're off the charts! YOU my dear sure is something special! Your doing a way better job than my last champions!" Vox said very cheerfully, he seemed to be in a very great mood with Jane's killing performances.

"Special" huh?' Jane thought that was a joke, "Special" is a word to describe something amazing something good, "Special" is a word that describes a miracle, a gift. But for him to use that word "Special" for her killing every innocent lost soul in this hell made Jane sick, this wasn't "Special," dressing like a barbarian wasn't "Special," going out in the ring and going full demon mode and killing everyone in a horrific, gorey and bloody way wasn't "Special." Even though those so called "comments" he gave her made her feel uncomfortable and uneasy, she just ignored them and set them to the side for now.

"I'm glad your enjoying the entertainment." Jane sign languaged to vox, since she can't speak without that special translation collar ratchet gave her years ago, and cause of that muzzle on her. "No thanks to YOU making it so enjoyable!" He said happily, "And for that, you get to eat something special tonight!" Vox said cocky like. Vox called one of his bot guards to escort jane back to her room, and by room I mean her empty cell, as in "cell" as a prison a jail cell, with nothing except a few things to keep her "entertained" like the large flat screen t.v. or the bed with only one mattress, she even had an iPod to at least listen to music with. It was always cold in her "room," while she was in the bot had taken off her muzzle only to see how horrifying and messed up her mouth was cause of that muzzle, her mouth was ripped wide into a horrific smile that ended next to her eyes like a jack-o-lantern kind of smile with sharp rows of teeth you can even see a line in the middle beneath her bottom lip that allows her to split her mouth open wide in case she wanted to bite something off. She sat I her bed and waited for this "Special" meal, as she waited the hole above the ceiling by the door opened and down came a corpse as usual, that's all she ever eats now since day one, but the corpse was one of her opponents, one of the ferocious five, this one was special, it had rich blood and a scent no other demon can resist, demons have all kinds of tastes, one's that would make them go insane if they didn't have a taste. Jane walked over to the dead monster and began to eat it, mostly the stomach cause that was where most of the meat was, she opened her mouth wide split in half and took giant bites, this one had the most delicious taste to it that she couldn't resist eating it whole. When finished, the corpse was just rotting fleshed stuck on a skeleton and jane's mouth was covered in blood as well as her arms, she was an animal an actual beast, she hated everything here, she hated killing and then eating her opponents. 

The next day, vox had plans for Jane, plans that would make the crowd want more of her merchandise plans that would make him even more rich. "Wakey wakey, princess! Your fight today is gonna be the most legendary of them all!" Vox shouted greedily, Jane got up and grabbed her weapons and walked with vox down to the arena. When they made it to the gates, Jane could hear the crowd's cheers from everywhere in the stadium, "Welcome Back To Dreadzone's Gladiator Games! We Got A Real Treat Today Ladies And Gentlemen!" The announcer said cheerfully, "Today's Battle Is Gonna Be Titan T Vs. Demon X! Two Very Powerful Contestants With The Same Level Of Strength, But Only One Can Stay Standing, Who Will Win? Stay Tuned To Find Out!" Titan T? You've got to be joking, he's almost the size of the entire stadium! How could Jane kill something like him? 'I bet my weapons would just feel like a bunch of bee stings to him!' Jane thought, as the gates were about to open vox grabbed her arm to turn her around to face him.

"Go for his neck, dig deep inside his flesh and cut it open!" Vox said in a menacing tone, "And if that doesn't work?" Jane signed, "Then use those claws of yours to cut an opening in his chest and use your tentacle technique to rip his heart out!" That's a bit overkill, way too gruesome to even think of doing such a thing. "Can't I, just for once, knock 'em out without the killing part?" That made vox angry, he didn't like the sound of that, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small remote with two buttons. First he pressed the top red button that activated her shock collar and electrocuted her so bad that she began to burn up, then he pressed the orange button that activated her muzzle, it was crushing her mouth almost enough strength to make it snap. "Don't EVER question or disobey my orders! You do exactly as I say, and I say kill him!" Jane started shaking, that hurt so much she felt like she was dying, she shook off the pain and stood back up and nodded in agreement to not do that again.

The gates opened and jane entered the battle grounds, in front of her was the giant Titan T with his hammer that looked like a giant boulder attached to a tree like stick, she grabbed her two cross blades and began to run towards the giant. Titan began swinging his hammer at Jane but missed every hit, Jane then began to climb on his hammer and head towards his neck but before she even sliced a cut on him he smacked her off and she came plunging down to the ground, but before she hit the ground she sprung open her wings, the were big and beautiful like a butterfly, they had red splotchy color patterns from the back to the front she flew back up towards his neck and swung her blade into his flesh cutting it open. Blood began to spill out of his neck as his head began to spin and he lost balance, he fell so hard it was like an earthquake as Jane landed on his chest with her bloody blades in hand, she turned to vox as he gave her a smirking look and then slid his finger across his neck as a sign for her to do what he told her, she looked back down at the giant's chest and opened her arm out, it puffed up and exploded open into tentacles long, slimy and sharp tentacles. She digged her tentacles into titan's chest and as soon as she got a hold of his heart, she ripped out his heart as vox had told her to. The crowd cheers roared higher as she held the big heart in her tentacles, the blood dripping down.

"FATALITY FOR TITAN T, Demon X Wins Another Battle!" The Announcer yelled all excited. Jane was so tired she almost fell and lost consciousness herself, but she managed to continued to standin walked back inside. As Jane walked back to vox's office to see if she made an effort and wasn't about to be punished, "That was outstanding performance down there! Absolutely marvelous!" He applauded, "Just look at all those bugs down there screaming your name! You did a good job out there not being a disappointment, kid" Vox said sternly "I promise I wouldn't let my favourite boss down" jane signed, she felt like a piece of her soul died every time she had to kiss up to that bastard, she was so done with dealing with his bullshit that she just had to come up with an escape plan. "Your darn right about that promise, you never let me down no matter what and for that I'm actually honoured." He said as if he was the one making the promises, the nerve he had, pretending that he was the one doing all the dirty work as if he was the one killing all those gladiators in a gorey demise one by one, but what did jane expect? Of course this old asshole was selfish and only cared about making up solutions to become the greats gladiator keeper there was. "Anyway that'll be all for now, you go on ahead get some rest done until i need you." Vox said while one of his bots took Jane back to her cell and locked her in there, she was actually glad she could get some rest, she felt so tired and sore she could go into a coma. As she began to lay down she took off her weapons, her muzzle and her shoes, her body was in so much pain that she relaxed herself comfortably on the bed and sleep.

As she slept, all she could think of were things her brother told her before he died, 'Don't show any sign of weakness or they'll eat you alive.' 'Don't give up on hope,' 'Always look towards the light' and the one that seemed important to jane, 'Tomorrow Is Another Day'


	3. Memories Of The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rangers have spotted vox, only to see he is with their friend.

The next morning was bright and sunny, though it was a beautiful clear blue sky it still didn't help with everyone's depression with seeing their friend now a demon of true nature. Ratchet was in his room searching for his omniwrench when underneath his desk was Jane's gift to him, it was a special gift she created, it may look like a white ball, but actually it was a memory projector you'd put it above your head and the brain cells that holds your memories will turn micro and start traveling through the projector and play your memories. 

That was a wonderful gift Jane made for everyone, ratchet couldn't help but use the device to play the fun times when jane was with them. The first memory that played was when jane became a ranger like them, though she was a rookie at the moment, she was still the strongest and smartest one on the team, other than elaris or talwyn. She was the most hyper one too, whenever there was a mission that resulted to fighting she would be happy that there's 'Finally Some Fun Around Here,' she was always so excited for many things. Then there was another memory where jane showed ratchet and angela her world, it was beautiful, trees with green leaves attached to them, the field of grass blanketed by the warmth of the sun, and the lake led by a river was glistening bright next to a waterfall, that was only part of Jane's planet that she liked to call her "Hideaway" a place to wash away all the pain and sorrows a place to rest peacefully a place to forget about all of the universe's problems. Behind the waterfall was a cave, it was dark, but jane would tell them it's a crystal cave, and she was right, she would crack open a rock with her throws and all you could see in those rocks were diamonds, gems and crystals. She liked to make jewelry with those crystals, basically just grabbing some strings and drilling holes through them to make them into necklaces or friendship bracelets *which everyone has* just to symbolize how strong and powerful their friendship was. 

Angela walked in on ratchet looking at those fun memories, "Wow, her hideaway..." Angela sighed. 

"O-OH, ANGELA! S-Sorry, didn't hear you come in...."

"Its okay...."

"..."

"Uh, I'm surprised you still have her memory projector...I still can't believe that was so long ago..."

Ratchet nodded his head, yeah that was long ago, "So uhh, is there something you need?" Ratchet asked. "Talwyn says she saw one of vox's ships and that maybe we could try to steal to find a way into the stadium and find jane." Angela said, they both headed towards talwyn outside the base who was holding a pair of binoculars, "Hey tal." Ratchet said, "Hey ratchet, I found vox's ship over there." She said pointing in the north while giving ratchet the binoculars. As he looked through, he saw vox's ship land and the doors open.

Coming out of the ship was vox himself with two highly and heavily armed bots, and behind him ratchet saw that it was his champion, his new weapon, Jane.

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"Uh, Hello Ms. Demon X! Mr. Vox Would Like To See You..." The servant bot said. Jane woke up from her peaceful nap and got dressed as usual, putting on her boots, her crossblades and her scarf. She walked down towards vox's office to see what he wanted her to do or who she was going to fight next, "Yes Vox?" She signed, "Ah, there's my shining star! Listen, I I you to come with me down to tamarainian city to pick up a few 'supplies.' 'Tamarainian City? But thats where the talwyn's base is! And Ratchet might be there too...' Jane thought, this was bad, if they were heading there then they would be the one's in deep shit, especially if they tried to rescue jane or separate her from vox. Jane knew that those were the choices her friends would most likely go for. 

Jane knew her friends all too well, so she tried to change vox's mind, "But that place has one of the galactic rangers' base's. And what if that troublemaker Ratchet was there?" Jane signed, "That little imbecile won't get in the way of my plans again! That's why I have hidden our identity, once the flies by they won't have any idea! No tracing, no holoscan nothing! We'll be totally invisible!" This still wasn't good, what if they could hack into the system and still find them? "Anyways, we'd better get going before they've sold all the hardsprockets." Vox said in a rush, 'What am I going to do?' Jane thought, she didn't at all what to do I spotted. They both headed into the ship and fly towards the city.

'Tamarainian City' jane thought, she remembers so many memories there, like when ratchet had stopped the prog twins or when cronk and sether would go with talwyn to see the president's daughter, sasha. 'So Many Years, So Little Time Together...' Jane thought.

As they touched down into the city and out the door, jane looked around, in case her friends were here planning an ambush. While in the market gathering supplies, jane looked over where the base was and saw three figures, two of them were small, one white and one orange, the third was a tall female. That's when Jane realised it was Talwyn, Angela and Ratchet staring at her with binoculars, 'Oh no...' she thought at first, but then realised she's different now so, 'Maybe they won't know it's me...'


	4. When Friends Come Together

There she was, in broad daylight, with the man behind it all. She knows that their there, and they know that she's there. "She's staring at us, I think she knows we're here." Ratchet said while staring through the binoculars. "Okay, here's the plan, when vox comes back we'll be in front of his ship and force him to give up Jane." Angela said. While in the market, jane had very unsettling feelings. She didn't know if her friends were gonna do something stupid like an ambush or full on assault, she brushed it off and continued with vox.

When finished, they headed back to the ship only to find the galactic rangers blocking the entrance. Guns were armed and ready to fire, pointed directly at vox and his bots. All of them, literally every one of them, Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, Talwyn, Sasha and Alister. 'What the fuck are they doing!?' Jane thought in panic 'They're going to get themselves killed!' Jane was literally frozen in fear, she had no idea what vox might do to them.

"Well Well Well, if it isn't the lombax that destroyed my first gladiator stadium! What exactly is it that you want?" Vox said in an annoyed tone, "You have someone that belongs to us." Ratchet said angrily. Vox turned and looked at Jane who was in full panic mode, her eyes were wide opened with fear, body shaking.

"Oh, I see. Sorry but your so called Friend belongs to me now." Vox grinned 

"I don't think so..." Ratchet said "NOW!!!" He screamed, and both of the bots had been destroyed with a small tack that they used to disable and fry them with. Qwark rushed and picked up Jane then started running towards the base, vox held up his remote controller getting ready to push the buttons, jane saw the remote and panicked, she jumped off of Qwark's shoulders and ran back to vox with her blades drawn. 

"Hehehe, you see lombax? She's under MY control! As long as I have this remote that operates her muzzle and collar, she'll stay as my guard dog!" Vox said with a cocky smile. "And don't even try to think that you can just destroy it, it is set to kill your friend if destroyed, rigged to snap her jaw off!" He said Evily laughing. The rangers eyes were in shock and fear, what now? If they can't destroy it, then how are they supposed to get that horrible machine off of jane?

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to..." vox said, going past the rangers.

"Your going to regret this, Vox..." Ratchet growled

"Oh I hope not, who knows? It may backfire on you!" Vox said grinning.

Jane and Vox went back in the ship and flew away. Meanwhile the rangers went back inside to figure out another plan. "DAMNIT! We were so close!" Sasha hissed, punching the wall leaving a small dent. "Yeah, but what should we expect? Vox to stay the same as last time without any tricks up his sleeve?" Azimuth sighed, "Well? What now? How are we supposed to get to jane now?" Angela said. "I've downloaded and gather some information on his ship when he arrived so, maybe we could steal a ship to get inside and hopefully find something in that place that could help Jane." Clank said.

"I hope Jane is doing o.k., especially with that maniac." Angela sighed.

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"I hope your not thinking about actually going back to those galactic losers after your 'Accident,' jane." Vox said suspiciously. "N-No, of course not, sir! We aren't even friends anymore!" Jane signed. Vox gave a sinister gaze to jane like it was a warning while heading back to the office.

While back, jane had to fight another opponent, again. This time it's Astronautica, the weird suicide bomber clown girl. Jane was already tired after what just happened and really didn't want to fight, but she had to. So, she got up and headed towards the arena prepared with her crossblades, but her mind was still circled around about what vox said about the remote. "If destroyed its rigged to snap her jaw off!" It was really messing with her. 'Snap my jaw off? Is he really tempted to do that if go out of line?' She thought to herself. 

While she was busy thinking about those thoughts, the gates opened and the crowd roared. She stepped inside the stadium and took out her weapons, the bomb clown was in front of her holding bombs, she was covered in all kinds of explosives. C4's, dynamite, grenades whatever! Like she was going into war or something. She started throwing the bombs towards Jane while bouncing and flipping away, jane dodged everything she threw at her. But while she was too focused on not getting blown to smithereens, Astronautica threw a grenade at Jane's back and it exploded leaving a very bad scar that was almost through her skeletal system.

Jane was on her knees, the pain crying out loud burning through her flesh. She had to shake it off, she got back up a little and watched carefully at the clowns patterns. Three rights then two lefts, three lefts then two rights. Once Astronautica was about to go left Jane leaped on top of her and pinned her to the ground. The crowd cheered and jane activated her bombs and threw the clown in the air.

Fireworks of exploded body parts rained down in the sky as the crowd's cheers grew louder, chanting Jane's gladiator name. "DEMON X, DEMON X, DEMON X!" They all cheered again and again, "OOOH, A FIREWORK SHOW FOR DEMON X FROM ASTRONAUTICA! Looks like Demon X is headed for dreadzone's finals!" The announcer cheered. Jane was badly hurt, she hurried back inside the gates out of the cheers of the crowd and fainted on her stomach.


	5. A Fly Caught In A Spider's Web

After failing to get Gleeman Vox to give up their friend, jane, Ratchet gets even more upset and his trauma of being in the arena of gladiators begins to worsen, especially with Jane now caught in the middle of it. 

Ratchet punched the wall in anger again as he growled, "Trying to break the wall with your bear fist won't help Jane come back anytime soon." Alister said. "But how are supposed to get her out of there without hurting her? We do anything rational he's most likely to cut her open." Ratchet said. 

"You seem more worried about her than the rest of us, something special is she?" Alister teased trying to make Ratchet cheer up a bit. 

"Yeah, she's the only one who actually understands about family loss and being the last and only one." Ratchet said angrily.

Alister sighed, "Still not forgiving me for that, huh?"

"Every since 'that' happened you never brought up anymore subjects of my dad or the other lombaxes! Even when I ask you about them you just ignore and change the subject, jane would at least listen to me and understand my situations." Ratchet yelled. Alister just stared at Ratchet in surprise and sorrow which Ratchet seemed to notice, "Sorry Azimuth, it's just..." Ratchet stopped feeling guilty, "No it's fine I... I understand, I haven't been telling the truth about them, I know." Alister said. Before they could continue their conversation, Sasha called a meeting.

Everyone joined together at the meeting room while Talwyn pulled up a hologram of one of Vox's ships. "We've got one of Gleeman's ships, we can fly over to the stadium and hopefully spot jane there" Talwyn said, "With disguises." Sasha added pulling out some of Elaris's Hologuise. "I asked Elaris for some help for blending in the crowd and she gave me these. They should help us changed our identity so we won't be spotted." Sasha informed. She gave everyone one Hologuise for the trip making. "And what about getting that stuff off jane?" Ratchet asked, "Already got that covered!" Talwyn said "With this chip, it'll deactivate her collar and muzzle from going off and hurting her." 

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go-" Before Ratchet could finish and bolt out the door, Sasha grabbed his arm stopping him. "No offense Ratchet, but with your trauma about the gladiator games, we think it's best if you stay and maintain communication." Sasha said worried. 

"What!? But jane-" Ratchet said 

"Will be fine, we'll bring her back to safety don't worry." Sasha said trying to calm him down

"Fine? FINE!?! She's not gonna be 'Fine' if I don't confront Vox!" Ratchet yelled

"Well, after your little fiasco on veldon while dealing with Nefarious, I'm not sure if it's such a good idea if jane sees you, Ratchet." Qwark said "QWARK! Don't bring that up! Now's not the time!" Talwyn and Sasha yelled. 'That fight' Ratchet thought to himself, 'Was that fight, really what made her... n-no not possible.' Ratchet tried to forget, but it just circled in his head making him think that all of this is his fault. Well he's about to make things right again, Ratchet took the chip and Hologuise and stormed off to the ship, everyone tried to stop him.

"Ratchet WAIT! Qwark didn't mean it!" Talwyn said 

"No he's right, this is my fault! But I'm gonna make things right!" Ratchet yelled 

"Ratchet please! Let us at least come up with a plan on how we're going to get close to jane without causing a ruckus!" Clank said trying to get his friend to stop whatever he was about to do. But Ratchet ignored and flew over towards the stadium. "We have to go after him, who knows how much trouble he'll get himself into by himself!" Sasha said, then everyone began to gear up to chase after Ratchet.

A few hours later, Ratchet made it to the stadium he put on the Hologuise and changed his look into a blarg. He quickly got out and headed inside through the front doors, and just as Talwyn said, no one noticed him. While through the doors, he looked around the place to see if there was an area where he could begin his search for jane. The place was crowded with people just excited to see the Gladiators fight each other just to see who'll win. Ratchet then looked towards his left and saw a door that lead to the gladiator rooms, quickly and quietly he entered and searched for Jane's room. Walking down the corridor, he found Jane's dressing room, as he expected, it was poor and broken down as if it has never been used before. It was barely empty, it had some of what jane enjoyed he even noticed a few things that he gave jane that she still had, a stuffed teddy that was green, had one blue eye, three legs with socks on, a smile on its face and purple skin with orange polka dots.

He stared at the stuffed animal remembering when he got it for her birthday, he remembers her smile and excitement when she held it, now she holds it to keep her calm from all the fighting and torture she's been through. When Ratchet was just about to leave the room, two guard bots found him and quickly grabbed him and took him to Vox's office. Vox was sitting at his desk in his office on the phone talking about making deals and selling more Demon X merchandises when all of a sudden his bots came in with Ratchet. "Sir, we found this suspect snooping around in your champion's room." One of the bots said while throwing Ratchet on the ground. "Thank you gentlemen, I'll take it from here." Vox said grinning. His bots left and it was just him and Ratchet, Ratchet still had the disguise on so maybe playing dumb could get him out of this. "Mr. Vox sir, I swear its not what you think" Ratchet said trying to play as someone else, but vox was too clever.

"No need to hide yourself, Ratchet. I have bioscanners everywhere all around this place." Vox said while snatching and taking off Ratchet's Hologuise totally exposing him. "So let me guess, still trying to get your friend back, huh? Well I'll let you see her!" Vox said still grinning, "Really?" Ratchet asked "Yes of course! I give! She's useless to me anyways." Vox said. And just like that, Ratchet was easily manipulated and followed vox. Vox lead Ratchet to the arena, the gates opened and Vox pushed Ratchet inside. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO A BRAND NEW BATTLE! This time we have something special! Behold the one and only, legendary lombax Galactic Ranger, RATCHET!" The announcer shouted, crowd cheered grew higher as they heard Ratchet's name. "Oh no." Ratchet said as those memories came back to haunt him. "And Across from the arena, The Angel Of Death, DEMON X!!!" Cheered the announcer.

'Wait WHAT!?' Ratchet said in his head, were they joking? He's not about to fight jane is he? A figure began to come out of the gates, standing there in front of him at the gates walking out was jane and her two crossblades. 

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While in her cage, just after being done with getting tortured even more for losing a fight, Vox came and knocked on the door. "Oh Jane dear! I'm sorry about punishing you, but I'll have you make up for your mistake!" Vox said in a tone that sounded like a lie or a trick. Vox opened the door and jane came out, he handed her the crossblades. 

"Who am I fighting this time?" Jane signed

"Hehehe, you'll see" Vox said in an evil tone.

Whatever he had planned wasn't good as he walked jane towards the stadium and at the gates. "I'm sure you'll find your opponent, interesting." Vox grinned "But remember my rule, SHOW NO MERCY." He said. Vox walked away back to his seat in the crowd. As the gates opened, Jane walked inside the arena with her crossblades stepping into the light, once she saw her opponent she almost fainted, her opponent was her best friend. She was going to have to fight Ratchet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you readers know, this fanfic is not a ship so please don't even start. Lol 😅


	6. We All Fall Down

"Yes Sir! This Right Here Is Gonna Be A Very Interesting Battle With The Lombax, Who Once Fought In The First Dreadzones' Gladiator Games, Fighting Against One Of The Devil's Children!" The Announcer said cheerfully, he was actually enjoying this. But wait, they're not serious are they? Two best friends fighting until death comes knocking at their door? Jane saw Ratchet and started shaking, she was shaking so bad it's almost as if she was about to fall to the ground. Ratchet on the other hand had no idea, he was actually excited to see Jane. "Jane! There you are! Everyone's been looking for you! What happened? How come your here with vox?" Ratchet said, but she wouldn't respond.

He started walking towards her trying to talk to her, but she would only back away from him. "Jane? What's wrong? It's me, Ratchet! Don't you remember?" Ratchet was confused, she'd never back away from any of her friends, usually she would run towards them and hug them but this time, it was almost like she was afraid to do anything. Before continuing to try and reason with Jane, Vox came towards the front of the stadium and spoke in the microphone. "Now Ratchet, my old friend, I'll make this fight a little easier for you. If you win, you can have your friend back and I'll take off the collar and muzzle. But if you lose, well, your friend is forever my prize! Good luck." Vox said in an evil tone as he rang the bell to start the fight.

Jane didn't know what to do, was she really gonna have to fight Ratchet? Ratchet just ignored what Vox had said and continued to try and talk to Jane. "Jane, do you know any exits? We can still get out of here, but only if you help!" Ratchet said trying his best to convince her to snap out of it. Jane looked up at Vox with terrified eyes, she really didn't want to do this, but Vox just smiled at her and said "Kill him with everything you got!" He said while holding up the remote as a sign of if she were to fail. Jane just admitted her defeat and took out her crossblades, she wasn't gonna kill him, but at least bruise him up a bit. Ratchet saw Jane draw her weapons, but he didn't want to fight her, they were friends weren't they? Then he thought back to what Qwark had said about the fight they had back then when they were dealing with Nefarious. When Nefarious's station was about explode with them inside, Ratchet and the others tried to leave while Jane was doing the unimaginable, she tried to destroy Nefarious once and for all and she'd put even MORE explosives around the area, as if she had lost her mind. They made it out, barely, but when they did Ratchet yelled at Jane for what a psychopath she is and if she'd ever wanted to something like that again, then she would have to leave and join some death match. And here they were, here she was, in a death match just like he told her to do.

Ratchet had regretted what he said to her back then, now here they are getting ready to fight to the death, he tried talking to her some more, "Jane, please. You don't wanna do this. We can still get out of here, together!" Ratchet said, but the words didn't seem to go through her head, he sighed as he can only see those memories of when they were best friends, no, brother and sister, twins, they had a lot in common. No families, last of their race *even though Jane doesn't know her race* and barely any information about the family they used to have. Once friends, now enemies, Ratchet tried once more to talk Jane out of fighting. "Listen, if this is about our fight after defeating Nefarious, then I'm sorry I-" Jane had charged at Ratchet swinging her blades at him almost slicing him in two.

She didn't want to hear it, she didn't want to hear any of it, about their fight, how she was too ignorant to listen to her friends when they told her how dangerous it was for how she acted in that station. She began attacking with force, and unfortunately for Ratchet, he had no choice but to fight Jane and like Gleeman Vox said, "If You Win You Get Your Friend Back." And that's exactly what Ratchet's going to do. Ratchet took out his omniwrench and started fighting back, he had smacked Jane in the face forcing her to stumble back. But Jane swung back at Ratchet and cut his chest leaving a bad scar there. 

Back at Talwyn's base, Angela was trying to tap into Ratchet's feed. When she accessed into the cameras, she was shocked to what she was seeing and immediately called everyone to come look. Everyone came rushing into the room to see what was going on and to their surprise, they saw Ratchet and Jane in the arena fighting each other leaving bruises and scars on each other's bodies. 

"WHAT ARE THEY DOING!?" Alister yelled

"It's Vox, he's forcing them to do this." Angela cried

"Please tell me SOMEONE has a plan to get them out of there!" Sasha said worried 

"I do, but we have to use our ships to get inside, clank already has the kill code to disarm Jane's collar and muzzle" Talwyn said

"Then let's hurry and get them out before they kill each other!" Sasha said while gearing up

They all were ready and prepared with gadgets and gizmos to rescue their friends, they started heading into their ships and flew towards the arena. Jane wasn't having much luck, Ratchet was winning and her body was so bruised up she was just about to give up. Ratchet was covered in so many scars from his arms to his legs, Jane tried to weaken his balance but apparently that didn't stop him from standing. "It's over Jane, just give up please! This isn't worth it!" Ratchet said trying to have Jane resign from fighting. But Jane couldn't risk that, it was either her or Ratchet, so ran towards him and knocked his legs over causing him to fall on his back. The crowd cheered at Ratchet's fall, but that wasn't the end. 'What's going on? I won didn't I? Why isn't the fight over!?' Jane thought, she was confused, she remembers the rules of these fights, if the opponent drops their weapon then that means they lose. Ratchet did drop his weapon, and he was just laying on the ground, this didn't make any sense. Jane looked up at Vox trying to figure out what she's supposed to do next, but Vox said "Why are you looking at me? I gave you your orders: 'KILL HIM with everything you've got!' Right?" Vox said smiling. 

What? Kill Ratchet? Her friend she had known for a few years? No, she couldn't, she can't, that would go against everything she's trying to make up for in the past. Jane refused, and like she noted to herself, it was her or Ratchet. So she dropped her blades and backed down, the crowd started booing at her and Vox started to get mad. "I said KILL HIM!! KILL HIM NOW!!!" Vox yelled, Jane looked back at Vox and signed "I'm not your damn slave or executioner! This is MY fight not yours! I choose whether he lives or dies! And I choose for him to live!" Jane signed to Vox who was biting his teeth very angrily, he had lost his cool and pushed the buttons on the remote. Jane was electrocuted at a very high voltage and the muzzle was ripping even more through her jaw, making her already creepy an monstrous smile wider and more gorey. 

Jane was brought to her knees by the pain, it hurts so much it was like she was dying. The rangers arrived at the arena and saw Jane getting tortured by the mechanisms on her. They dropped down from their ships and started running towards Ratchet and Jane, but was stopped by some guard bots that were heavily armed. Jane saw the others and really started to panic, she had to make a move.

Jane got up and grabbed her crossblades, Ratchet tried to get up but Jane used her psychic powers to force him back down on ground, while the others were fighting the guard bots, smashing them till they're nothing but scrap, they looked at what Jane has done. She raised one of her blades and brought it back down right through the middle of Ratchet's chest till it touched the sand on the ground, then she brought the blade back up as it was covered with blood and swung it between his head and shoulders disconnecting them. The crowd cheered at Jane screaming her name "DEMON X, DEMON X, DEMON X." Jane's tears ran down her face as she looked at the new corpse and then back at her friends who were frozen in shock and fear to what she has done. "I'm so sorry" Jane signed to the rangers as she took her weapons, Ratchet's head and left through the gates out the arena stadium and back to Vox's office.

The rangers couldn't believe what Jane just did to her friend, no, not impossible, Jane couldn't have, did she? So many things were going through their minds, they tried so hard to forget what she did and think positive, but staring at Ratchet's body without the head was too hard to resist.

"You murderer...YOU TRAITOR" Alister yelled at Jane, who was leaving back to Vox's office.

"W-Wait! It's not her fault, it's Vox! HE forced her to do that, this is HIS fault!" Sasha cried

She was right, Vox had planned all of this, he knew the rangers too well. How they were gonna come up with plans to rescue their friends, how emotional Ratchet is towards Jane since he felt like only she knew his pain an emotions about his race and parents. Vox had planned all of that to turn on itself, and it did, just as he expected it to. Back in his office, Vox was yelling at Jane for her hesitation, but Jane didn't care anymore, whatever torture Vox was about to do to her, she deserved it. Vox called one of his bots and took her to a lab that looked like Frankenstein was born in it. For ten hours, Jane had been whipped, beaten and burned, her body was all covered in her own blood. When finished with her punishment, Jane was sent back to her cell, crying.


	7. Into Madness

Everything was silent. No said anything. What the rangers had witnessed was unbelievable. Jane pinning Ratchet down on the ground and cutting his head off then carrying it to Vox like it was a trophy for his collection. "Well done my dear!" Vox said, "It would've been a pity if you had let me down and made me a fool. Your punishment would've been merciless." Jane gave Vox Ratchet's head then headed towards her cell. "WHAT A SHOWDOWN!!! THE FAMOUS LOMBAX NOW DOWN IN HISTORY!!" The announcer cheered as well as the crowd as their chants roared through the air, the rangers, with nothing else to do, falled back to the base.

Back at the base, everyone was silent. Emotions running in and out of their minds. "That blasted traitor!" Azimuth said angrily, "And to think all this time we've been friends with her, she has yet to overlook our partnership!" 

"But she didn't mean to! I mean, I really don't wanna believe that she's against us..." Angela said

"Don't forget guys, this was Gleeman Vox's fault. He's the one in control of all this." Sasha said

"Yeah, wether it's Jane's fault or not we still need to help her!" Talwyn cried

"After what she's done to poor Ratchet!? Hah! You've lost your mind." Alister said while storming off to Ratchet's room. 

"Well? What do we do now?" Angela questioned.

"We're gonna go with the plan we had before going after Ratchet, then we'll see of an escape plan." Sasha said. A loud crash was heard from outside, the rangers pulled out their weapons ready to fire just in case. "Who's there? Show Yourself!" Sasha yelled. As the noises got louder the door opened. "Whoa whoa whoa! It's just me!" That voice... they couldn't believe it, the figure of that voice came out into the light, a short, orange fella with strips on his big ears and an omniwrench attached to his back and was wearing a black striped shirt with an orange strip in the middle, he had gloves on his hands as well as black pants and mechanic boots. It was Ratchet.

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Jane was curled up in her room confusion was running through her brain. Looking back at what happened, she wasn't sure if she really did kill her friend. Jane had used her duplicate technique on Ratchet to save him, but didn't know if she really killed him or not. Panic was now entering her mind, thought of her plan failing and the rangers, her friends, outcasting her. 'No....I didn't..... I know I didn't' Jane thought to herself. She was scared, mad and sad, she had no idea what to do, the other rangers were there surely to rescue her, but after what she did Jane thought that chance flew out the window. She couldn't stop thinking about what she did to Ratchet, images of his dead corpse swam around in her mind. Nowadays, Jane has hallucinations of Ratchet's corpse just sitting there in the corner of her room staring at her, or dropping down from the food pipe that Vox has in her room would be Ratchet's body, or his blood on her hands and face. Jane couldn't stop thinking or imagining things that her friend could do to haunt her until she's finally gone insane.

Vox was in his armchair overjoyed with happiness that he was getting richer and more famous after Jane's performance in the ring. "Ahh, this is the life! I should thank that kid for everything!" Vox pushed a button on his desk and called to his guard bots to fetch Jane. The bot knocked on Jane's door, "Demon X, the boss wants to see you." Jane was silent, she was just sitting there looking creepy, broken. The bot opened the door, "Demon X, I will not repeat myself." The bot warned. Jane got up and grabbed her crossblades just in case she was about go and fight another opponent. "Ah! There's my shining star! I really would like to thank you for everything you've done for me, go ahead and choose your prize, whatever you want! Look around!" Vox said happily. He turned back around to the television watching the replays of Ratchet's demise. Jane looked around to what 'Trophy' she could have as a 'gift' from vox. Then she saw it, on display too, Ratchet's decapitated head staring at her, it gave her chills and horrible flashbacks to those hallucinations she's been seeing. She looked back at Vox, looking at him laughing his butt off of Ratchet being killed made Jane mad with fury. She looked at the decapitated head then back at Vox as if Ratchet's head was saying, "You Know What You Must Do." And "Do It." Jane looked back at Vox, then the head, and back at Vox. 

Jane walked up behind Vox, while he wasn't paying attention, Jane took out one of her crossblades and raised it up high in the air. Then with a swift blow, she swung the blade down on Vox's head, cutting it in half, the bots went active and tried to kill Jane, but with her powers, with just a glare they were all destroyed. Her muzzle started to rip and crush her jaw more, Jane quickly grabbed the remote control for her muzzle that Vox had in his pocket and pushed the blue button to make it stop. She was bleeding badly, and was still sore and tired from all the fighting. Thank God it was over now, she was done with all this gladiator business. Before flying out the window back to the rangers' home base, she looked back at Ratchet's decapitated head and thought to herself, "I Have Avenged You, Dear Friend." Then she jumped out the window and flew away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this was a bit shorter, I'm starting to run out of ideas :/


	8. Awake and Alive

No one could believe it, Ratchet was alive and well, a few scars and bruises here and there, but he was back from the dead. "How's this even possible?" Alister said "Jane's duplication spell, the other me she killed was a fake." Ratchet explained, "When I tried to get back up and she pinned me down she duplicated me and I fell through the ground into the sewers. That's when I made my escape and back here." Said Ratchet. Everyone hugged Ratchet, "Don't ever do something like that again, you really scared us." Talwyn said "I know, I'm sorry I panicked. But we need to go back for Jane." Ratchet said. "Uhh, I think she got that taken care of." Qwark said pointing at the television. On the T.V. it showed Gleeman Vox's body split in half from the chest to the head. "Shocking News From Dreadzone's Head Leader, Gleeman Vox, Was Found Dead In His Office And All Of His Gladiators Loose In The City, Including The Famous Gladiator Champion, DEMON X." The news Anchorman announced. "You guys don't think Jane actually did that, do you?" Angela said "Hard to say, but the 'Loose Gladiator' thing? Yep, that's Jane." Sasha responded.

"We need to go and look for her before she gets herself into more trouble" Talwyn said.

"But she could be anywhere out there. Where do we even begin to look?" Clank said.

"Lets think about all of her hiding spots, she's got to be somewhere in those areas." Angela said

Then Ratchet got an idea, he remembered whenever Jane was sad or angry she would go to her own world, her hiding place. "Her Hideaway! Jane always goes there!" Ratchet exclaimed. 

"Yes but, I'm pretty sure she knows we'll be looking for her there, we may need to search the entire city, and her hiding spots." Azimuth said

"You guys go on ahead, me and Ratchet will check her hideaway" Angela said

"We'll keep you guys posted" Said Ratchet.

And with that, they all geared up prepared for anything and went on the search for Jane.

Weeks have past and the rangers have found nothing, Jane wasn't in any of her hiding spots in the city or around the galactic rangers home base. "She must've flew out of the city. Ratchet, Angela, have you found her hideaway yet?" Sasha asked "No, not yet, her hideaway is so far away." Ratchet said "I feel terrible for Jane, I still can't believe Vox would turn her into some monster" Angela sighed. "Indeed, I must say that Gleeman Vox is very lucky he's dead, otherwise his punishment for what he has done would've been way worse than death" Clank said "I hear ya, pal. As soon as we find Jane we're bringing her back home and setting things right." Said Ratchet. 

They flew their ship down on a mountain platform and searched around its areas hoping to find their friend, hours of looking and going around in circles they found nothing. "She's not here either." Ratchet sighed, "Hey Ratchet!" Angela called and Ratchet came by her side next to the cliff that was covered in clouds "What is it Angela?" He said. "I think I know how to get there..." Angela said while looking down into the clouds, "W-Wait Angela, I don't think we're able to do that, we don't have her powers." Ratchet said "Ratchet is right, even if we were able to, Jane would probably sense us coming and run away again." Clank warned. "Well, then I guess we'll have to find out." Angela said as she pushed Ratchet and Clank down into the clouds and then dived in after them. "ANGELA, ARE YOU CRAZY!? WE COULD DIE!" Ratchet yelled "Only if we don't follow the rules! Remember what she said? Hold on tight and close your eyes and think of a happy place!" Angela cried. Ratchet didn't know what else to do, so he listened to what Angela said and they all held hands and closed their eyes.

Taking a peek, Ratchet saw that they were still surrounded by dark clouds. "Nothings happening!" Ratchet yelled "Keep trying! Remember, think of a Happy Place!" Angela yelled back. They shut their eyes once again and thought of a 'Happy Place.' And with that, the dark clouds started to turn into light white fluffy clouds and out the clouds they came. They looked up and saw the clouds they fell out of was above instead of below, then they looked down and saw Jane's Hideaway, it was the same as ever, like nothing has changed, fields of grass with flowers popping out guiding a trail that leads to a forest, a lake and a river attached to each other that lead to a giant waterfall. They landed swiftly on the green ground and looked around. "Wow, we found it!" Ratchet said breathless "And you thought we couldn't do it." Angela smirked "Uhh yeah, cause we're not like Jane." Ratchet said "But I'll give you that one." They began searching through the fields and around the lake calling Jane's name hoping she'll come come out. Nothing, they searched and searched for hours and again nothing. "She's not here either? Where in the cosmos could she be?" Ratchet sighed "Wait! What about there?" Angela said pointing to the waterfall. "Ah, yes, her crystal cave! She must be hiding in there." Clank said. They all started going around the lake towards the waterfall. They entered behind the water curtain and into the cave where they saw Jane in the corner asleep.

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Flying thousands of feet in the air, Jane couldn't stop thinking about her friends, her family that she so poorly betrayed so she wouldn't be punished anymore. After all of this, she still felt like she was still being punished, she thinks that her friends probably hate her and won't forgive her for what she has done. With tears in her eyes, Jane flew down into a cave behind a waterfall, hoping to hide and never be seen from the world. Looking out the waterfall, she could see the beautiful night sky and the beautiful glowing blue moon, "At least there's some thing to be happy about seeing" she thought to herself as she fell into a deep sleep. The next day, Jane wasn't sure if it was safe to come out for food, especially since she knows that everyone has probably already found out that Vox is dead and she killed him, but she had no choice, she was starving, she had to come out of hiding and find something to eat. In the field were some horses, so she quietly snuck behind them and used her tails' stinger to get three of them, one for breakfast, one for lunch and then one for dinner. She dragged the three horses bodies back into the cave and began to eat one of them until they were nothing but bones.

Weeks have past and Jane stayed put, not moving from her spot. She missed her friends an awful lot, she really wanted to see them again, to see the smiles on their faces when they see her, she loved seeing that, it made her feel like she was home once again surrounded by people who actually care about her and shared everything, like she was part of their family. But it's too risky now, her friends must hate her, probably not even caring to come and look for her. Jane just sighed and went back outside to look for some more horses to eat, the horses seemed to have known how dangerous it was for them in the fields out in the opened, so they traversed into the forest. They were deep in the forest, not too deep but deep enough to find. Jane once again hid and snuck up on the horses and used her tail to kill them and drag three horse bodies back to the cave, that was Jane's new routine for food now, and she believes that there's no going back.

Once back inside, she began eating one of the horses. Opening her new bruised and ripped opened mouth, Jane's sharp teeth dugged into the horses flesh ripping chunks of it off and swallowing it until it was nothing but bones. Once she was done, she went to sleep with nothing better to do. A few hours later, she heard footsteps and voices coming into the cave, she woke up and saw that the footsteps and voices belonged to two of her friends, Angela, Ratchet and Clank who she saw standing there in front of the water curtain.

**Author's Note:**

> Jane is a redhead demon cat that is deaf and used to be friends with ratchet and the other rangers a decade ago, 3 years after ratchet and clank escaped Gleeman Vox in the dreadzones gladiator games. A year later while completing a mission, ratchet and jane got into an argument that lead to jane running away and disappearing for 10 years.


End file.
